Take-up device for knitting machines



April 1935- I J. A. STAFFORD ET AL 2,037,282

TAKE-UP DEVICE FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed April 18, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet l John A. 5foff0 d Karl \Jurzbac her ATTO RN EYS INVENTORS TAKE-UP DEVICE FOR KNITTING MACHINES 4 Sheet s-Sheet 2 Filed April 18 John A. Sfafford Karl \Jurzbacher' ATTORNEYS Aprfili M, 1936. J. A. STAFFORD ET AL TAKE-UP DEVICE FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed April 18, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 III I mm u INVENTORfi Karl Wurzbacher ATTORNEYS Aprifi M, 1936. J. A. STAFFORD ET AL TAKE-UP DEVICE FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed April 18, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORS John Ajfifafford Karl \Jurzbacher ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 14, 1936 PATENT OFFICE TAKE-UP DEVICE FOR KNITTING MACHINES John A. Stafford and Karl Wurzbacher, Little Falls, N. Y., assignors to Stafford & Holt, Inc., Little Falls, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application April 18, 1935, Serial No. 17,090

7' Claims.

Our present invention relates to a take-up device for circular knitting machines.

The purpose of this invention is to provide such a take-up device of new and improved construction and operation.

In circular knitting machines a. take-up device is used to draw the tube of knitted fabric away from the needles under proper tension. Heretofore the common form of such take-up device hasconsisted of two closely disposed oppositely arranged rollers slowly rotated and drawing the tube of fabric therethrough by pressing the tube into doubled flat form after which the fabric is ordinarily wound up in a roll. The flattening of the circular tube of fabric done by this common formof take-up device distorts the fabric, that is the cross rows of stitches in the tube are not straight in the roll but are on a curve of from a quarter of an inch to over an inch in the width of the folded tube of fabric. With most fabrics this distortion does not make much difference, but with some special knitted types of fabric this non-straight condition of the rows of stitches in the fabric is very troublesome. there is a knitted fabric wherein relatively large cords of covered rubber are laid into some or all of the rows of stitches so as to make an elastic fabric suitable for corsets, surgical stockings or bands and the like. When this fabric is to be cut up for making it into such articles the fabric should be cut crosswise along a row of stitches; that is, between two adjoining rubber cords. If this fabric has been distorted so that the rows of stitches and the rubber cords lie in a decided curve due to being drawn through the said two take-up rolls, the cutting up of the cloth into pattern pieces is rendered much more difiicult and the formation of articles accurately and easily therefrom is prevented. It is the main purpose of this present invention to provide a take-up device which is especially adapted to operate satisfactorily upon such special fabrics and give the requisite tension to the fabric as it comes away from the needles and to exert such tension with the fabric still in substantially a For instance,.

members such as to form an almost uninterrupted circle of fabric tensioning means.

A further purpose is to provide a. device of the character mentioned wherein the pairs of fabricengaging members are arranged so closely next to each other about the circle as to'engage the entire circle of the fabric with only slight interruptions between adjacent pairs and so that the required tension'is given to the entire circle of the cloth resulting in an evenness of knitting which is desirable and has not heretofore been attained with some fabrics.

A further purpose of our invention is to provide a take-up device of the character described wherein the fabric engaging members of each pair are constructed and adapted to grasp the fabric with sufficient pressure and wherein one member of eachpair of the fabric-engaging members is a roller preferably corrugated or fluted and is con-' stantly subjected to a spring tension tending to rotate it in the direction to draw down thefabric engaged thereby and also to provide means for intermittently renewing the tension upon said yielding tensioned means so that an even and regulated tension may be constantly had upon every part of the circle of fabric.

Fig. 1 is a central vertical sectional view through a circular latch needle knitting machine equipped with a take-up device embodying our invention but showing only the units in the immediate foreground.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional View through said machine on line 22 of Fig. 1 showing a top or plan view of the take-up device, said view showing in full lines all of the ten inside fabricengaging rollers and their supporting yokes used in this particular machine but showing in full lines only some of the co-operating outside rollers and their supporting yokes and only some of the mechanisms used to transmit a rotating tension to the outside rollers.

Fig. 3 is a top or plan vie-w of one of the takeup units shown. in Figs. 1 and 2' in connection with the adjacent portion of the knitting machine but on a larger-scale.

,Fig'. 4 is a side elevation of the unit shown in Fig. 3, but omitting for the sake of clearness the outer portion of the stem of the outer yoke and its connection to the bracket upon the gear case. In said view the gear case and its supporting ring upon the machine is shown in vertical section.

Fig. 5 is a plan view similar to Fig. 3 of a unit of the take-up device, but having a modified form of mechanism for transmitting the yielding.

rotating tension to the outside fabric-engaging roller.

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the unit shown in Fig. 5 but for the sake of clearness omitting the outer end of the stem of the outside yoke and its attachment to the bracket upon the gear case.

Referring to the drawings in a more detailed description it will be seen that our take-up device is shown in connection with a circular knitting machine of the latch needle type and one wherein the needle cylinder I rotates while the needle cams II and the head I2 of the machine remain stationary as do also the various feeds of the machine, all resulting in the tube I3 of the knitted fabric descending down through the inside of the cylinder I3 and constantly rotating in unison with said cylinder.

From the arch I 4 bridging the head of the machine there depends the centrally-arranged vertically-disposed dial shaft I5 carrying the dial I6 and its attached parts not necessary to be described further herein. Said dial shaft and dial are rotated in unison with the cylinder. To the end of the dial shaft projecting below the dial there is connected 2. length of vertical shaft I! by means of a universal joint generally denoted by the numeral I8 whereby the shaft I1 is supported and rotated in a general vertical position but may swing slightly in any direction as required. This depending rotated shaft I1, hereafter called the take-up shaft, supports and carries therewith the other parts of the take-up mechanism that are within the tube of fabric I3. The part directly attached to the shaft is a disk I9 having radiatingly arranged sockets 20 therein corresponding in number to the take-up units of the machine. In the machine illustrated these take-up units are ten in number. It will be understood, however, that this number is simply representative of a thoroughly practical embodiment of the invention and that the number of the units may be increased considerably or decreased somewhat as long as the fabric-engaging members are sufl'iclent in number to hold the cloth throughout practically its entire circle.

In each socket 20 there is adjustably mounted in a horizontal radiating position the inner end of the stem 2I of an inner yoke 22 between the opposite and outwardly projecting arms of which is revolubly mounted an inside or interior roller 23 as by the projecting journals 24 at the opposite ends of said roller rotating in bearings 96 provided in the arms of said interior yoke. Preferably the face of said inside rollers is corrugated or fluted as by having formed thereon relatively fine teeth extending lengthwise of the roller and adapted to aid in readily exerting a downward pull upon the tube of knitted fabric in conjunction with the directly rotated and similarly corrugated or fluted outside rollers 25. These outside fabric-engaging rollers 25 are preferably similar in size and shape to the inside rollers 23 but are located each respectively outside of the tube of fabric, but directly opposite its respective inside roller 23. Each outside roller is provided with two journals projecting from its ends, one journal 26 being relatively short and the other journal 2! being longer. These journals are revolubly mounted in suitable bearings in the opposite arms of an outside yoke 28. To the outwardly extending hub of each outside yoke 28 is rigidly secured a yoke stem 29 the outer part of which is square and slidingly mounted in a square socket 30, three sides of which are formed preferably integral with the bracket 3| of this unit of the take-up mechanism.

The brackets 3| for the several units are secured to the upper face of the annular large gear 32 rotatingly mounted in turn upon the top and inner portion of the lower platform 33 of the knitting machine some distance down from the head I2 which is carried above this lower platform by means of a plurality of suitable uprights 34. The lower platform 33 in turn is carried some distance above the floor by suitable legs (not shown) but spaced well out relative to the lower platform 33 so as to provide ample room for the can or other container 35 commonly provided to receive the tube of knitted fabric. This receiving can 35 is supported by suitable screws 35 connecting the upper part of the can to the inner face of the annular gear 32 which gear it will be understood rotates in unison with the rotating tube of fabric I3 coming down from the rotated cylinder I0 and in unison also of course with the inner fabric engaging rollers 23.

As is common with knitting machines of this type the cylinder I0 is rotatively carried by being secured at its lower end to a large annular gear 36 which has a downwardly facing circle of teeth 31 engaged by a beveled gear 38 carried at the inner end of a. horizontal shaft 39 hung in a suitable bearing 40 conveniently provided upon one of the head-supporting uprights 34. This horizontal shaft 39 is driven in any convenient manner as by power applied to a pulley not shown but provided upon the outer end of shaft 39. The annular gear 36 is held in its position beneath the head I2 by an annular gib M.

In our machine the teeth 31 are provided upon the lower edge of a downwardly projecting flange 42 provided upon the said annular gear 36. Upon the outwardly facing vertical surface of this flange there is provided another set of gear teeth 43. These teeth engage and drive a small gear 44 mounted below the head I2 of the machine conveniently upon the opposite or left hand side of the machine as it is seen in Fig. 1.

Beyond the gear 44 or to the left thereof as the parts are seen in Fig. l the-re is provided and suitably suspended from the head I2 another gear 45 meshing with gear 44 to the insideand meshing to the outside with gear 46 rigidly fastened to vertical shaft 41. The upper end of this shaft is mounted in a suitable bearing provided in the head I2 and its lower end is mounted in the lower platform 33. Just above this lower platform there is rigidly fastened to said shaft 47 a gear 48 which at its inner side meshes with the teeth provided upon the outside vertical edge of the lower large annular gear 32 already mentioned as carrying the several brackets 3I. It will thus be seen that the lower gear 32 is thus rotated in unison with and in the same direction as the needle cylinder I9.

Preferably a downwardly projecting flange 49 is provided upon the inner edge of the wide ring gear 32 which flange fits into a correspondingly shaped step 50 provided at the inner and upper side of the lower platform 33. Preferably the toothed outer edge of this gear 32 is covered and protected by a gear casing 5 I This gear casing is Z-shaped when seen in vertical section as in Figs. 1 and 4 with its lower flange 52 resting upon and secured to the lower platform 33 outside the gear 32 and with its upper flange 53 projecting inwardly over the teeth and onto the flat upper face of the gear 32. The gear casing 5| is of course annular in shape and extends all the way around the outside of the gear 32 except for necessary interruption thereof where the gear .8 engages the large gear 32 as at the left hand side of Fig. 1.

The brackets 3| are rigidly fastened in suitable and evenly spaced position about the top of the large ring-like gear 32 with the outer edge of each bracket spaced clear of the inner edge of the inwardly projecting upper flange 53 of the gear casing 5 i. As already mentioned each bracket 3i carries a socket 30 in which is slidingly mounted the square stem 29 of the outer yoke 28 of a unit. The socket 313 may be conveniently formed with three of its walls integral with the bracket 3! as by providing two upstanding spaced walls 5& and 55 respectively upon the bracket and by utilizing the general upper level of the bracket therebetween for the bottom of the socket. Preferably this socket extends inwardly of the general inward curved side 56 of the bracket as appears particularly in Fig. 3. The fourth side of the socket is provided by a flat cover 5? suitably fastened to the tops of the two walls 5- 5 and 55.

In order to mount the outer roller with a yielding and an adjustable yielding tension, suitable spring tensioned means are provided to bear against the end of stem 29 of the outer roller. These spring tensioned means consist of a spring pressed plunger 58 the enlarged head 59 of which fits into a round recess extending inwardly of the stem 29 from its outer end. About the shank of the plunger 58 is mounted a coiled spring to the inner end of which bears against the adjacent face or left hand face of the head at of the plunger 58 as the parts are seen in Fig. 3. The other or outer end of this spring bears against the inner face of a sleeve 6!. Part way through the bore of this sleeve extends the shank of the plunger 58 while the exterior surface of the inner end of the sleeve is screw-threaded into a bridge piece 62 rigidly attached to the outer end of the socket 36. By screwing the sleeve 6i inward or outward by means of its squared outer end it will be seen that greater or less tension will be imparted to the coiled spring to and thus the outer yoke and the outer roller carried thereby will be given a greater or less inward tension as required to keep the outer roller 25 pressed closely enough towards the inner roller 23 to grasp the section of the tube of fabric engaged between the said rollers of a unit. Preferably a lock nut 63 is provided upon the sleeve iii engaging the outer face of the bridge piece 62 and thereby allowing the said sleeve to be locked in position to which it has been set.

Upon the outer end of the longer journal 21 of the outer fabric-engaging roller 25 is rigidly secured a ratchet wheel 64 which is of about the same diameter as the fabric-engaging roller 25. As this machine is organized and as both types of means for getting a spring-tensioned rotation of the outerfabric-engaging roller are constructed, the ratchet teeth 65 are arranged to face in an anticlockwise direction as seen in Fig. 4 and are adapted to be engaged by a working ratchet es mounted at the upper end of a lever El conveniently loosely mounted upon the journal 2? of said roller. As these parts are seen in Fig. 4 it will be obvious that movement of the ratchet 6t bodily to the left will simply cause the point of said working ratchet 66 to ride over one or two teeth 55 without imparting the necessary clockwise movement to the said ratchet wheel and thereby to the said outer fabric-engaging roller 25. Preferably a small coiled spring 38 yieldingly holds the working ratchet'fifi downward against the teeth 65 but allows the ratchet to swing outwardly during the retroactive or outward movement of the upper end of the lever 61. To overcome the liability of the ratchet wheel moving backward due to the strong tension normally kept upon the tube of knitted fabric, locking dogs 69 are provided, preferably three in number, and of different effective lengths as appears in Fig. 4 so that one of said dogs will operate quickly to prevent any backward or anticlockwise movement of the ratchet wheel 64 when the working ratchet 66 is retracted.

In Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive there is shown one type of spring mechanism for imparting, a springtensioned forward movement to the working ratchet 66. This form of spring-operated mechanism for moving the working ratchet 6t (and which form may for the purpose of convenience be called the Type A form) will now be described. In this type A of spring mechanism as appears particularly in Figs. 3 and 4, the lever 67 is provided with a downward extension 67' which extends some distance below the pivoting journal 27 and has pivotally connected to its lower end the inner end of a link in. The outer end of this link is pivoted to the side of a sliding rod ll towards the inner end of said sliding rod l I. This sliding rod H is slidingly mounted in a housing 12 provided upon the near end of the bracket 3! already mentioned as supporting the socket 39 of this unit. The housing F2 is conveniently formed by a bottom integral with the said bracket 3! and two upstanding spaced walls. The housing is completed by a separate cover 13 secured to the top of said walls. Upon the outer end of the cover 13 is provided an upstanding ear 14 having a horizontally disposed inwardly facing aperture in which is slidingly mounted the outer portion of a screw-threaded pin 15 adjustably held in place by a nut it engaging the outer end of the pin 15 outside the ear M. To the inner end of said pin '55 is secured the outer end of the roller operating spring or main spring 11 of the unit. The inner end of this spring is secured to the upper end of a post 18 upstanding from the inner end of the sliding rod 1 I. The outer end of the sliding rod H projects a sufficient distance beyond the housing '12 to have mounted upon said rod on a vertical axis an antifriction roller 19. This roller is adapted to be engaged by the face 80 of cam device M of which a plan View is shown in Fig. 3. This cam device has its outwardly extending shank 82 adjustably secured to the top of a short post 83 fastened to the outer portion of the top face of the lower platform 33. Assuming that as this machine is organized the large lower gear 32 carries the outer parts of the different units of the take-up mechanism in an anticlockwise direction the small roller 59 when so brought into contact with the face 80 of the fixed cam device 8| will move the sliding rod 1| inwardly and thereby carry inwardly the link to and accordingly the lower end 61 of the lever 61. Such inward movement of lever 6'! will obviously swing the upper end of the main lever 61 outwardly and thus retract the working ratchet 66 past one or several of the ratchet teeth of ratchet wheel E i. This inward movement of the sliding. rod '5 i, however, has been accomplished only against the tension of the main spring Tl operatively connected thereto and said spring has been placed under greater tension than before due to its inner end attached to the post 18 being carried inwardly while its outward end is held stationary by the stationary ear 14', that is stationary against any radial inward motion such as is imparted to the inner end of the spring. It will be understood of course that the ear 74 in common with all of the rest of the unit of the take-up mechanism is rotating with gear 32.

As soon as any given unit has carried its antifriction roller 19 past the cam device 8| the said roller and the sliding rod H upon which it is mounted are free to again move outwardly due to the contractile power of the main spring 11 which has been placed under tension by the inward travel of the said sliding rod and anti-friction roller. Such outward movement, however, of the sliding. rod H and the link 80 will be arrested as soon as the working ratchet 66 mounted upon the upper end of the lever 61 travels far enough along the slanting side of a tooth to engage the active side of the next tooth upon the ratchet wheel 64. Thereupon the main spring 71 is exerting its tension through link Ill, lever 67 and ratchet 66 to rotate the ratchet wheel 64 in clockwise direction as seen in Fig. 4 and so tending to move in a similar direction the outer fabric-engaging roll of this unit. It will be understood that the strength of spring 11 is such and the arrangement and adjustment of the parts and the tension placed upon said spring 11 by the tension nut 16 is such as to tend to rotate the outer-fabric engaging roll with sufficient spring tension to draw the engaged portion of the tube of fabric downwardly from the needles with a proper power and at the proper speed.

It will be seen that if the fabric is not being knitted and drawn down fast enough to allow the swinging lever 61 and the working ratchet 66 to move the limit of their working stroke by the time the rotation of the knitting. machine brings this unit opposite the cam device 8! for the next engagement, the sliding rod H and roller 19 will not have moved outwardly under the tension of spring l! the full amount. Then upon the engagement of the roller 19 with the cam device 3i the sliding rod ll will be moved inwardly only the extent that they have moved out from their inward position. The ratchet 66 will, therefore, only be retracted one or two teeth instead of a longer travel and the spring tension of this takeup unit will be maintained at the desired strength. In other words, it will be seen that each unit of the take-up device is so constructed and so tensioned as to tend to move the take-up roller constantly with sufficient power and movement to keep the fabric drawn down from the cylinder in the proper manner. The spring-tensioning means are such as to tend to impart the proper rotation to the take-up roll and the mechanism for re-tensioning the spring is so arranged as to re-tension the spring before its power has been exhausted or its limit of travel made. It will be understood, furthermore, that where there are many feeds upon a machine and the fabric is knitted rapidly, the spring-tensioning device may be re-tensioned more than once during a rotation of a given unit of the take-up device. For instance the cam device 8| shown in Figs. 3 and 4 may be duplicated at one or more other places upon the circle of the lower platform 33 so that as a given unit of the take-up mechanism rotates once the main spring 11 may be re-tensioned two or more times if necessary.

In order to get the members of each pair of fabric-engaging members accurately spaced apart and so giving the same pressure upon the fabric throughout the width of the fabric-en' gaging rollers we provide means for accurately adjusting the journals 24 of the interior roller 23 relative to the inner yoke. Each arm 95 of this yoke is supplied with a horizontal slideway in which is slidingly mounted a bearing 96 adapted to be pushed outward by a short plunger 91 slidingly mounted in the arm 95 and having its inner end yieldingly engaged by one outer end of a leaf spring 98 secured to the yoke as appears in Fig. 3. The spring slightly back from the plunger 91 is engaged from Within by an adjusting screw 99 mounted in the yoke. A set screw I in the top of the yoke holds the adjusting screw 99 at the position to which it has been set.

Figs. 5 and 6 show a top or plan view and a side view respectively of a modified form of device for imparting a spring tension to the working ratchet 66 pivoted to the upper end of lever 61.

This form of device which for convenience will be called Form B has a connecting link 84 pivotally connected at its inner end to the upper end of lever 61 carrying the ratchet 66. Conveniently the pivot carrying the ratchet 66 may be used to connect the inner end of said link 84 to the lever 51. The outer end of this link is pivotally secured to the upper end of a post 85 upstanding from the outer end of arm 86 of a bell crank pivoted by pin 81 to the bracket 3| of the unit. The other arm 88 of this bell crank extends outwardly and there carries an antifriction roller 89 which is in the path of and adapted to be engaged by the cam face 80 of the cam device 8| already mentioned as being secured upon the outer part of the lower platform 33 beyond the gear casing 5|. Above the antifriction roller 89- the pin securing said roller to the outer end of arm 88 is extended above the roller and upon this extended upper end has attached thereto one end of the main coiled spring 90 of this form of spring tension mechanism. This coil spring extends forwardly as the parts are seen in Fig. 5 or more or less parallel with the arm 86. The near end of this spring 90 as seen in Fig. 5 is operatively connected to a rigid support upon the large ring gear 32. .This may be conveniently accomplished by providing an upstanding post 9| upon said annular gear 32 and securing to said post a bracket having an outstanding arm 92. Through a hole in this arm extends a screw threaded rod 93 extending towards spring 90 and attached to said spring as by the near end of the spring having a hook caught into a hole in that end of the rod 93. On the side of bracket arm 92 away from the spring the rod 83 is provided with a nut 9-4 whereby in an obvious manner the tension upon the working spring 95 may be adjusted as required.

As already mentioned this machine is organized to have the ring gear 32 and all of the take-up mechanisms carried thereby rotate in an anticlockwise direction. Accordingly as a unit using one of these Form B spring-tensioning mechanisms comes into contact with the slanting cam face 80 of the cam device 8! secured upon the stationary lower platform 33 the antifriction roller 89 carried upon the outwardly extending arm 88 of the bell crank will be to a certain extent held from advancement and will in eifect be swung backward relative to the steadily advancing post 81 upon which the bell crank is mounted. This will move the other arm 86 outwardly and thereby carrv the connecting link ence.

84 outwardly which in turn will retract the ratchet 66 past one or more teeth of the ratchet wheel 64. As soon as the continued rotation of the unit has carried the roller 89 past its co-operating cam device iii the spring 96) which was stretched and placed under tension by the said backward swinging movement of arm 88 will be free to contract again and this will place a spring tension upon the ratchet 66 and lever 61 tend ing to advance the ratchet 6t and therewith the ratchet wheel 64 and the frabric-engaging roll 25 rigidly connected to said ratchet wheel. As already explained in connection with Form' A, this spring tension will operate to gradually draw down the portion of the tube of knitted fabric engaged by this unit. As the working spring 98 thus gradually rotates ratchet wheel 6c in this manner, the arm 88 and its roller 89 will gradually swing towards the bracket arm 92 and will be in position to be again engaged by the cam device 8! when the unit completes one cycle about the machine if only one cam device 8! is being used or until it completes the fractional part of a rotation to meet another cam device if more than one cam device is used on that particular machine. It will be understood that this form. of spring mechanism the ratchet wheel 5 will be prevented from backward movement from the tension of the fabric during retraction of the ratchet 65 through one of the three dogs 69 soon coming into engagement with a tooth of said ratchet wheel.

It will now be seen that we have provided a take-up device for circular knitting machines which is well adapted to attain the purposes and objects pointed out at the beginning of this spec ification. It will be seen particularly that our take-up device avoids any distortion of a circular tube of knitted fabric and operates while the tube of fabric is still in a circle by having a plurality of pairs of fabric-engaging members disposed substantially in a circle and with the members of said pairs engaging the knitted fabric through substantially its whole circumfer- It will be noticed particularly that the pairs of fabric-engaging members are of sufficient number and are arranged as closely as possible to each other and that each pair of fabricengaging members grasps the fabric throughout the width of said members so that the entire circle of fabric is subjected to a substantially equal proper take-up tension. It will be seen also that the fabric is actually engage-d by said takeup rolls through its complete circumference except for the short spaces between adjacent pairs of take-up rollers and that this space is reduced to the minimum by the special shaping and arrangement of the parts. The narrow zones of fabric not mechanically grasped by the take-up rollers are so narrow that the tension from the two adjoining pairs of take-up rollers is distributed to these narrow zones sufficiently to keep the whole circle of fabric under sufficient tension as it leaves the cylinder needles. It will be seen further that each pair of take-up rollers can be separately adjusted to exert the proper spring tension upon the fabric engaged thereby and that each pair of take-up rollers is at frequent intervals having its spring-tensioned power restored or retensioned automatically during the operation of the machine.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a take-up device for a circular, knitting machine, the combination of a needle-cylinder from which the tube of fabric being knitted descends, a shaft depending within the tube of fabric, a plurality of members supported by the shaft and engaging the interior surface of the tube of fabric below the level of the cylinder, rollers supported outside the tube of fabric and frictionally engaging its outer surface on the level of said interior fabric-engaging members and similar in number to said interior icengaging members and severally aligned with, means revolubly mounting said outsi-c. rollers, said pairs of oppositely disposed fabric engaging members having their fabric-enga faces of such length and the pairs being of sum cient number and so closely arranged next to each other as to engage the entire circle of fabric with only slight interruptions between adjacent pairs, and separate and separately adjustable and independently operating spring-tensioned means located outside the tube of fabric for separately rotating each of said outside roll whereby the fabric is drawn down evenly all about the circle.

2'. In a take-up device for a circular knitting machine, the combination of a needle-cylinder from which the tube of fabric being knitted descends, a shaft depending within the tube of fabric, a plurality of members supported by the said shaft and engaging the interior surface of the tube of fabric below the level of the cylinder,

rollers supported outside the tube of fabric and frictionally engaging its outer surface on the level of said interior fabric-engaging members and similar in number to said interior fabric-engag-- ing members and severally aligned therewith,

number and so closely arranged next to each other as to engage the entire circle of fabric with only slight interruptions between adjacent pairs, separate means outside the tube of fabric for independently imparting an adjustable spring-tension to each of said outside rollers tending to rotate them in the direction to draw the fabric down and means for periodically renewing the tension on said separate spring-tension means.

3. In a take-up device for a circular knitting machine, the combination of a needle cyiin er from which the tube of fabric being knitted descends, a shaft depending within the tube of fabric, a plurality of yokes supported by the said shaft in radiating arrangement below the level of the cylinder, a roller revolubly mounted in each of said interior yokes and engaging the inside of the tube of knitted fabric, a similar number of rollers supported outside the tube of fabric and frictionally engaging-its outer surface on the level of said interior rollers and severally aligned therewith, means revolubly mounting said outside rollers, said pairs of oppositely disposed fabric-engaging members having their fabric-engaging faces of such length and the pairs being of sufiicient number and soclosely arranged next to each other as to engage the entire circle of fabric with only slight interruptions between adjacent pairs, and separate spring-tensioned means outside the tube of fabric for rotating each of said outside rollers independently whereby the fabric is drawn down evenly all about the circle.

4. In a take-up device for a circular knitting machine the combination of a needle cylinder from which the tube of fabric being knitted descends, a shaft depending within the tube of fabric, a plurality of yokes supported by the said shaft in radiating arrangement below the level of the cylinder, a roller revolubly mounted in each of said interior yokes and engaging the inside of the tube of knitted fabric, a similar number of rollers supported outside the tube of fabric and frictionally engaging its outer surface on the level of said interior rollers and severally aligned therewith, means revolubly mounting said outside rollers, said pairs of oppositely disposed fabric-engaging members having their fabric-engaging faces of such length and the pairs being of sufficient number and so closely arranged next to each other as to engage the entire circle of fabric with only slight interruptions between adjacent pairs, separate means outside the tube of fabric for imparting a spring tension to each of said outside rollers tending to rotate them in the direction to draw the fabric down and independently operated means for periodically renewing the tension on said respective tension means.

5. In a take-up device for a circular latchneedle knitting machine, the combination of a rotated needle-cylinder from which the tube of fabric being knitted descends, a shaft depending Within the tube of fabric and rotating in unison with the said cylinder and the fabric, a plurality of rollers supported by the said shaft and engaging the interior surface of the tube of fabric below the level of the cylinder, rollers sup ported outside the tube of fabric and frictionally engaging its outer surface on the level of said interior rollers and similar in number to said interior rollers and severally aligned therewith, means including brackets carrying said outside rollers, said pairs of oppositely disposed rollers having their fabric-engaging faces of such length and the pairs being of sufficient number and so closely arranged next to each other as to engage the entire circle of fabric with only slight interruptions between adjacent pairs, a ring carrying said brackets in unison with the cylinder and said inside shaft and separate and separately adjustable, spring-tensioned means located outside the tube of fabric for rotating each of said outside rollers whereby the fabric is drawn down evenly all about the circle.

6. In a take-up device for a circular latchneedle knitting machine, the combination of a rotated needle-cylinder from which the tube of fabric being knitted descends, a shaft depending within the tube of fabric, and rotating in unison with the said cylinder and the fabric, a plurality of interior rollers supported by the said shaft and engaging the interior surface of the tube of fabric below the level of the cylinder, rollers supported outside the tube of fabric and frictionally engaging its outer surface on the level of said interior rollers and similar in number to said interior rollers and severally aligned therewith, means including brackets carrying said outside rollers, said pairs of oppositely disposed fabric-engaging rollers having their fabric-engaging faces of such length and the pairs being of sufficient number and so closely arranged next to each other as to engage the entire circle of fabric with only slight interruptions between adjacent pairs, a ring carrying said brackets in unison with the cylinder and said inside shaft, separate and separately adjustable spring-tentioned means located outside the tube of fabric for rotating each of said outside rollers whereby the fabric is drawn down evenly all about the circle and means operated by the rotation of said ring for periodically renewing the tension on said separate spring-tension means for rotating the outer rollers.

7. In a take-up device for a circular knitting machine, the combination of a needle-cylinder from which the tube of fabric being knitted descends, a two-part shaft depending within the tube of fabric and having the lower portion connected to its upper portion by a universal joint, a plurality of members supported by the lower portion of said shaft and engaging the interior surface of the tube of fabric below the level of the cylinder, rollers supported outside the tube of fabric and frictionally engaging its outer surface on the level of said interior fabric-engaging members and severally aligned therewith, means revolubly mounting said outside rollers, said pairs of oppositely disposed fabric-engaging members having their fabric-engaging faces of such length and the pairs being of sufiicient number and so closely arranged next to each other as to engage the entire circle of fabric with only slight interruptions between adjacent pairs, spring-tensioned means for pressing each outer roller inwardly towards the opposite inner fabric engaging member, and separate spring-tensioned means outside the lines of fabric for rotating separately each of said outside rollers whereby the fabric is drawn down evenly all about the circle thereof.

JOHN A. STAFFORD. KARL WURZBACHER. 

